Olympus announced the Tough TG-820, a replacement for the TG-810, in February 2012. Other additions to the range are the TG-620 and TG-320. The TG-820 is available in red, blue, black and silver for £252.00.

Olympus Tough TG-820 Features

The Olympus Tough TG-820 has Olympus' new iHS (Intelligence, High Sensitivity and High Speed) technology aimed to make it possible to take great pictures in lousy conditions. There is a 12 megapixel CMOS sensor and TruePic VI image processor (originally developed for DSLR cameras). Olympus say this will all help improve low-light performance, speed up camera response and enhance scene and subject recognition, ideal for fast-moving subjects, night scenes and other tricky shots.

Of course, the TG-820 isn't called Tough for nothing. It’s crushproof to 100kg, waterproof 10m, shockproof to 2m and freezeproof to -10°C. All this will help protect the camera components, which include the 5x optical zoom lens, a 35mm equivalent of 28 - 140mm.

The TG-820 can also record videos, at full 1080p HD. During recording you can use Magic Filters and optical zoom with stabilisation available to ensure steady videos.

Key Features

Waterproof to 10m

Shockproof to 2m

Crushproof to 100kg

Freezeproof to -10°C

5x wide optical zoom lens (35mm equiv: 28-140mm)

12 megapixel backlit CMOS sensor

1080p Full HD Movie and HDMI Control

Multi-motion Movie IS

iHS Technology

3.0 inch 1,030,000 dot HyperCrystal III LCD screen

Dual Image Stabilisation

Magic Filter Movie and/or Stills

HDR Backlight Adjustment

Advanced iAuto and AF Tracking

Face Detection and Advanced SAT

Super-resolution Zoom

3D Photo Shooting Mode

Beauty Make-up Mode

Pet Detection Mode

In-Camera Panorama

Tap Control

Manometer

LED Illuminator

Scene Modes

Eye-Fi Card compatibility

USB-Battery Charge

Metal body

Olympus Tough TG-820 Handling

Appearance wise, the TG-820 hasn't changed much from previous models. The zoom rocker is now placed on top of the camera alongside the shutter release. On the rear is a chunky OK button which acts as a D-pad and makes it easy to use the camera even with gloves on. There is also a metal plate around the video record button which helps grip and is also used to attach a strap. The playback button allows viewing of your pictures and videos even when the camera is switched off, the ? button tells you the time and date as well.

If your gloves are so thick you can't possibly press the buttons then it's time to switch on Tap Control. This means you can cycle through the shooting options by tapping the camera left, righ, up and down, with a double tap on the screen for OK. It works really well and you can adjust the sensitivity.

The rear of the camera also host a 3 inch, 1,030,000 dot LCD screen which is scratch-resistant and easy to view. To ensure the insides of the camera don't get wet, the battery, memory card and cable connectors are housed behind one door which requires the pressing of two locks to open.

Olympus haven't provided a CIPA rating for the camera's battery but it was charged before testing and was not needed to be recharged. We tested the camera's performance at focusing, shutter response, shot-to-shot time, continuous shooting etc. and have posted the results below. To test this we took 6 or more shots and calculated the average.

Olympus Tough TG-820 Performance

The Olympus Tough TG-820 produces images which are really well exposed with very pleasing colour reproduction. Detail is good a both ends of the lens, with some purple fringing in high contrast areas. There are three different modes for close-up shots, macro, super macro and super macro LED. In super macro mode the camera has a minimum focusing distance of just 1cm, allowing detailed close-up shots to be taken. There are examples below using the LED light.

Olympus Tough TG-820 Lens test images

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There's no noise at ISO 100, but it does start to appear at ISO 200 and more so at ISO 400. At ISO 800 noise is making the images slightly softer and again at ISO 1600. As you'd expect, noise continues to increase through ISO 3200 and 6400, but a usable image is still produced, particularly if you are resizing for web use, with colour reproduction remaining good throughout the ISO range.

Olympus Tough TG-820 ISO test images

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Landscape mode takes pictures with good blues and greens. Portraits have excellent skin tones and are free from red-eye. Sport mode has been used to gain a fast shutter speed to capture the movement of the water. The TG-820 takes a very impressive seamless panoramic picture.

Olympus Tough TG-820 Scene modes

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Panoramic | 1/40 sec | f/3.9 | 5.0 mm | ISO 800

Example images taken underwater.

Olympus Tough TG-820 Sample Photos

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The LED macro mode is a great way to lighten up a close-up scene, here are some examples.

Olympus Tough TG-820 Other sample images

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The auto white-balance (AWB) setting takes an image with a orange cast under the incandescent lighting, with the respective preset taking a better picture. Under the fluorescent lighting, the AWB setting has a very slight magenta cast, with the fluorescent preset giving a much stronger magenta cast.

Olympus Tough TG-820 White-balance test images

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There are a range of magic filters available to add creativity to both images and videos, although not all of them can be used for video recording.

Olympus Tough TG-820 Digital filters

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Video Mode

Below is a video shot at full 1080p HD, the camera also allows the use of optical zoom during recording, an example of which can be seen on the ePHOTOzine YouTube Channel.

Value For Money

The Olympus Tough TG-820 is currently priced at £252.00 and is at the top of the Olympus Tough range which includes the TG-620 and TG-320. If you want the most waterproof and shockproof camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT4 ticks the box.

Olympus Tough TG-820 Verdict

We have been impressed by cameras in the Tough range previously, such as the TG-610 which was featured packed with good image quality. The TG-820 does not disappoint, with the latest top of the range Tough camera building on previous results. There is now full 1080p HD video recording, a higher-resolution screen and an extended ISO range. There is very little to fault and some unique features, such as TAP control and LED macro, really make the Olympus Tough TG-820 stand out as an ideal camera for those who like to take pictures in extreme conditions.

The Olympus Tough TG-820 is another excellent performer in the Tough range.

Comments

My Olympus tg-820 broke down after 11 months. Olympus repaired it but within a week it had stopped working again. I sent it back for another repair and it was returned to me two weeks later with the same fault. After just one year the camera is unusable. It should last longer than this. I am sending it back to Olympus for a third time but I'm not holding my breath. :(

My Olympus tg-820 broke down after 11 months. Olympus repaired it but within a week it had stopped working again. I sent it back for another repair and it was returned to me two weeks later with the same fault. After just one year the camera is unusable. It should last longer than this. I am sending it back to Olympus for a third time but I'm not holding my breath.